Welcome To My Garden…I’m So Excited To Show It To You!

By Carol Cichorski, on August 29th, 2010

It isn’t often that I sit back (yes, me, sit) to enjoy the beautiful garden that Mike and I love. I did that for 10 minutes today when I sat outside (yes, actually sat) to eat my breakfast. So now its your turn to sit (yes, you, sit) to enjoy the moment.

It isn’t necessary to be eating chocolate, but it does enhance the experience.

You have my permission to go get some as long as you promise to come right back.

The yard is quite large by Chicagoland standards. A half-acre in the city would not happen for us, but a half acre in the ‘burbs. Absolutely. We started out with a yard smaller than that before I knew that I was gardening obsessed. It wasn’t my fault. Really. My husband Mike, and his Mom, Ardie, took me to the Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier. Its been all up-hill, down-hill, and dirt-filled since then.

We bought a small house with a large lot, complete with a weed filled so-called grassy area. No garden to speak of. We fixed that. Oh boy, did we fix that. We started an addition, which meant that Mike got to play with a back-hoe and the excavated dirt became a berm. It took me a few years to claim it, but I did. Now it is one of the few low-maintenance areas in the yard. We could use more of those. If you could too, watch the Work Less tab to share our journey.

I’d like to introduce you to our Dahlias. This one is really as big and beautiful as it looks. Want to learn more about growing these beauties? That’s where Mike comes in. There will soon be entries by Mike (he doesn’t quite know that yet). We’ve got about 100 Dahlias in our yard, blooming beautifully from August through mid-October. It is truly a labor of love for him.

We also have hummingbirds, a lovely couple. Today they were doing acrobatics in the pine trees as well as feeding at the feeder. My son Kevin gets credit for the hummingbird picture, which is sooooo much better than my pictures. To learn more about attracting hummingbirds to your yard, come back soon. Hopefully by then I’ll have figured out how to link to Kevin’s photography website as well.

If you’d like us to speak for your group, we’d like that too. Because a gardener (you) can be grown! I certainly was. And now I am blooming where I have been planted…Carol

13 comments to Welcome To My Garden…I’m So Excited To Show It To You!

Carol, it is so exciting that you now have a blog. I have missed Garden Club so much and have been curious to know how everyone’s gardens are growing. I cannot wait to see more.

BTW, I too have discovered how to attract hummingbirds, but I never seem to have a camera ready when they stop by my Cardinal Flowers. They don’t see m to give a hoot or a flutter about my feeder, but I am ok with that as long as they stop by for a visit.

Carol, thanks for informing me ’bout your blog. i love to garden, so i enjoy the sharing. it is a real journey from the ‘no garden’ garden so many of us bought into to the transformed ‘GARDEN’… well worth the effort….. keep that trowel handy, and the hoe, and whatever else you need to keep your garden yours! and show us your birm! waiting for more….as i say in my emails ‘grow where you are planted, then sprout wings and fly’!!!

Thanks! The burm sure was a long term project. Small bushes from a flea market, ground cover from other people’s yards. Stones from Mike’s Mom’s place in Wisconsin. Oh yes, and several years for it to fill in.